Interactive media content platform

ABSTRACT

Methods, media, and systems are disclosed for creating and sharing interactive media. A set of media files are received, from which a background image is selected. A representation of the background image is displayed. A placement gesture is received having a release point on the display corresponding to placement of an interactive media icon within the background medium. Icon properties information is received regarding one or more properties of the interactive media icon. Icon placement information. A request to access the interactive media package is received from a second user.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application is a continuation application claiming prioritybenefit, with regard to all common subject matter, of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 18/113,994, filed Feb. 24, 2023, and entitled“INTERACTIVE MEDIA CONTENT PLATFORM” (“the ′994 Application”). The ′994Application is a continuation application claiming priority benefit,with regard to all common subject matter, of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 17/514,696, filed Oct. 29, 2021, and entitled “INTERACTIVEMEDIA CONTENT PLATFORM,” now U.S. Pat. No. 11,592,977, issued Feb. 28,2023, (“the ′977 patent”). The ′977 patent is a continuation applicationclaiming priority benefit, with regard to all common subject matter, ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/036,181, filed Sep. 29, 2020, andentitled “INTERACTIVE MEDIA CONTENT PLATFORM,” now U.S. Pat. No.11,199,960, issued Dec. 14, 2021, (“the ′960 patent”). Theabove-referenced patent application and patents are hereby incorporatedby reference in their entirety into the present application.

BACKGROUND 1. Field

Embodiments of the invention relate to interactive media content. Morespecifically, embodiments of the invention provide methods and systemsfor interactive media content creation and sharing.

2. Related Art

Web browsers can render hypertext markup language (HTML) pages thatcontain image maps. An image map is made up of an image andcorresponding sets of coordinate ranges that define individual shapeswithin the image. The shapes within the image may each be mapped to ahyperlink. Clicking or tapping on a point within the image correspondingto an individual shape redirects a user to the particular hyperlinkcorresponding to the individual shape.

One of the challenges in defining an image map is specifying the sets ofcoordinate ranges that define the individual shapes within the imagemap. It is possible to manually specify these sets of coordinate rangesby inputting HTML directly into a text editor. Such manual HTML codingis complicated and time consuming. Some tools and graphics editorplugins have been developed to facilitate the creation of image maps.However, even using a graphical image map editor, there is no easy wayto create and associate interactive media with particular parts of animage. Accordingly, there is a need for an interactive media contentplatform that facilitates creation and consumption of interactive mediacontent.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the invention address the above-mentioned need byproviding collections of interactive media that are associated with andpositioned relative to a main image (also referred to herein as a“background image”). In certain embodiments, the interactive media iscreated, shared, and consumed from touch devices, including mobile touchdevices. In particular, a first embodiment of the invention is broadlydirected to one or more non-transitory computer-readable media storingcomputer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor,perform a method for creating and sharing interactive media, the methodcomprising: receiving, from a first user, a plurality of media files,the plurality of media files including one or more potential backgroundmedia, receiving, from the first user, a selection of a backgroundmedium from the one or more potential background media, displaying, on adisplay, a representation of the background medium, receiving, from thefirst user, a gesture having a release point on the display, the releasepoint determining a placement of an interactive media icon associatedwith the representation of the background medium, receiving, from thefirst user, an icon properties selection regarding one or moreproperties of the interactive media icon, based on the selection of thebackground medium, the release point, and the properties of theinteractive media icon, assembling icon placement information regardingthe icon properties and placement of the interactive media icon,transmitting, to an application server, an interactive media packagecomprising: the plurality of media files, and the icon placementinformation, receiving, from the application server, a uniqueinteractive media identifier corresponding to the interactive mediapackage, and receiving, from a second user, a request to access theinteractive media package corresponding to the interactive mediaidentifier.

A second embodiment of the invention is broadly directed to a method forcreating and sharing interactive media comprising: receiving, from afirst user, a plurality of media files, the plurality of media filesincluding one or more image files, receiving, from the first user, aselection of a background image from the one or more image files,displaying, on a screen, a representation of the background image,receiving, from the first user, a gesture having a release point on thescreen, the release point determining a placement of an interactivemedia icon associated with the representation of the background image,receiving, from the first user, an icon properties selection regardingone or more properties of the interactive media icon, based on theselection of the background image, the release point, and the propertiesof the interactive media icon, assembling icon placement informationregarding the icon properties and placement of the interactive mediaicon, transmitting, to an application server, an interactive mediapackage comprising: the plurality of media files, and the icon placementinformation, receiving, from the application server, a uniqueinteractive media identifier corresponding to the interactive mediapackage, and receiving, from a second user, a request to access theinteractive media package corresponding to the interactive mediaidentifier.

A third embodiment of the invention is broadly directed to a system forcreating and interacting with media, the system comprising: on a firstclient device, a first non-transitory computer-readable mediumprogrammed to: receive, from a first user, a plurality of media files,the plurality of media files including one or more images, receive, fromthe first user, a selection of a background medium from the one or moreimages, display, on a display, a representation of the backgroundmedium, receive, from the first user, a placement gesture having arelease point on the display, the release point determining a placementof an interactive media icon associated with the representation of thebackground medium, receive, from the first user, an icon propertiesselection regarding one or more properties of the interactive mediaicon, based on the selection of the background medium, the releasepoint, and the properties of the interactive media icon, assemble iconplacement information regarding the icon properties and placement of theinteractive media icon, transmit, to an application server, aninteractive media package comprising: the plurality of media files, andthe icon placement information, on an application server, a servernon-transitory computer-readable medium programmed to: based ondetermining at the application server, a unique interactive mediaidentifier corresponding to the interactive media package, store theunique interactive media identifier, and receive, from a second user, arequest to access the interactive media package corresponding to theinteractive media identifier, and on a second client device, a secondnon-transitory computer-readable medium programmed to: receive theclient interaction request gesture in connection with the interactivemedia icon, and provide responsive interactive media content.

This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the detaileddescription. This summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. Other aspectsand advantages of the current invention will be apparent from thefollowing detailed description of the embodiments and the accompanyingdrawing figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

Embodiments of the invention are described in detail below withreference to the attached drawing figures, wherein:

FIG. 1 depicts an exemplary hardware platform for certain embodiments ofthe invention;

FIG. 2 depicts a system diagram showing the components of a system forcarrying out embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a depiction of a graphical user interface for selecting abackground medium as displayed on a mobile device;

FIG. 4 is an exemplary depiction of a graphical user interface forplacing interactive media icons as displayed on a mobile device; and

FIGS. 5A-5C are exemplary renderings of a graphical user interface forinteracting with interactive media content on a mobile device; and

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram depicting a method for creating interactivemedia content.

The drawing figures do not limit the invention to the specificembodiments disclosed and described herein. The drawings are notnecessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearlyillustrating the principles of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention provides various embodiments of a computer program, amethod, and a system for creating, sharing, and consuming interactivemedia content. A user that is creating interactive media content withthe platform accesses the platform via a client device. The clientdevice may be any type of computing device, such as a desktop computer,a laptop computer, phone, a wearable technology, or other computingdevice but will typically be a mobile device such as a tablet computeror a smartphone. These various devices are discussed in greater detailbelow. The client device may have one or more non-transitory computerreadable media with one or more computer programs stored on the media.The computer programs instruct at least one processor to perform certainsteps as defined within the computer programs. The user may also utilizemore than one user device, of more than one type, to access theinteractive media content platform at various times.

The subject matter of embodiments of the invention is described indetail below to meet statutory requirements; however, the descriptionitself is not intended to limit the scope of the claims. Rather, theclaimed subject matter might be embodied in other ways to includedifferent steps or combinations of steps similar to the ones describedin this document, in conjunction with other present or futuretechnologies. Minor variations from the description below will beunderstood to one skilled in the art and are intended to be capturedwithin the scope of the claimed invention. Terms should not beinterpreted as implying any particular ordering of various stepsdescribed unless the order of individual steps is explicitly described.

The following detailed description of embodiments of the inventionreferences the accompanying drawings that illustrate specificembodiments in which the invention can be practiced. The embodiments areintended to describe aspects of the invention in sufficient detail toenable those skilled in the art to practice the invention. Otherembodiments can be utilized, and changes can be made without departingfrom the scope of the invention. The following detailed description is,therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense. The scope of embodimentsof the invention is defined only by the appended claims, along with thefull scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

In this description, references to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” or“embodiments” mean that the feature or features being referred to areincluded in at least one embodiment of the technology. Separatereference to “one embodiment” “an embodiment”, or “embodiments” in thisdescription do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment and are alsonot mutually exclusive unless so stated and/or except as will be readilyapparent to those skilled in the art from the description. For example,a feature, structure, or act described in one embodiment may also beincluded in other embodiments but is not necessarily included. Thus, thetechnology can include a variety of combinations and/or integrations ofthe embodiments described herein.

Turning first to FIG. 1 , an exemplary hardware platform for certainembodiments of the invention is depicted. System 100 provides anenvironment in which the various illustrated devices perform dataprocessing operations. Device 102 can be a mobile device such as asmartphone or tablet, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a servercomputer, or any other form factor of general- or special-purposecomputing device. Depicted with device 102 are several components, forillustrative purposes. In some embodiments, certain components may bearranged differently or be absent. Additional components may also bepresent. Included in device 102 is system bus 104, via which othercomponents of device 102 can communicate. In certain embodiments, theremay be multiple busses or components may communicate with each otherdirectly. Connected to system bus 104 is central processing unit (CPU)106. Also attached to system bus 104 are one or more random-accessmemory (RAM) modules 108. Also attached to system bus 104 is graphicsmodule 110. In some embodiments, graphics module 110 may not be aphysically separate card, but rather may be integrated into amotherboard or CPU 106. In some embodiments, graphics module 110 has aseparate graphics-processing unit (GPU) 112, which can be used forgraphics processing or for general purpose computing (GPGPU). Also, ongraphics module 110 is GPU memory 114. Connected (directly orindirectly) to graphics module 110 is touchpad display 116 for userinteraction. In some embodiments no display is present, while in othersit is integrated into device 102. Similarly, camera module 118 isconnected to system bus 104. Like display 116, camera module 118 may beintegrated into device 102 or absent. In some embodiments, device 102includes a microphone 120 and a speaker 126. Also connected to systembus 104 is local storage 122, which may be any form of computer-readablemedium and may be internally installed in device 102 or externally andremovably attached.

Computer-readable media include both volatile and nonvolatile media,removable and nonremovable media, and contemplate media readable by adatabase. For example, computer-readable media include (but are notlimited to) RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology,CD-ROM, digital versatile discs (DVD), holographic media or otheroptical disc storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic diskstorage, and other magnetic storage devices. These technologies canstore data temporarily or permanently. However, unless explicitlyspecified otherwise, the term “computer-readable media” should not beconstrued to include physical, but transitory, forms of signaltransmission such as radio broadcasts, electrical signals through awire, or light pulses through a fiber-optic cable. Examples of storedinformation include computer-usable instructions, data structures,program modules, and other data representations.

Wireless transceiver 124 is also attached to system bus 104 and allowsdevice 102 to communicate over a network such as network 138. Wirelesstransceiver 124 can be any form of wireless network interface known inthe art, such as cellular mobile data or Wi-Fi (i.e., the IEEE 802.11family of standards). It is understood that any other type of networkconnection could be alternatively employed, including a wired network.Wireless transceiver 124 connects device 102 to local network 138, whichmay also include one or more other computers, such as computer 128, andnetwork storage, such as data store 130. Generally, a data store such asdata store 130 may be any repository that can store and retrieveinformation as needed. Examples of data stores include relational orobject-oriented databases, spreadsheets, file systems, flat files,directory services such as LDAP and Active Directory, or email storagesystems. A data store may be accessible via a complex API (such as, forexample, Structured Query Language), a simple API providing only read,write and seek operations, or any level of complexity in between. Somedata stores may additionally provide management functions for data setsstored therein such as backup or versioning. Data stores can be local toa single computer such as computer 128, accessible on a local networksuch as local network 138, or remotely accessible over Internet 132.Local network 138 is in turn connected to Internet 132, which connectsmany networks such as local network 138, remote network 134 or directlyattached computers such as computer 136. In some embodiments, device 102may itself be directly connected to Internet 132.

Turning now to FIG. 2 , a system diagram showing the components of asystem for carrying out embodiments of the invention is depicted andreferred to generally by reference numeral 200. System 200 provides aplatform for creating, sharing, and consuming interactive media content.As used herein, interactive media content refers to media, such asimages and video, that a user can interact with. In one embodiment, acontent-creating user (or a first user) employs first mobile device 202to create interactive media content. First mobile device 202 may be anydevice described in connection with FIG. 1 , such as device 102. In oneembodiment, first mobile device 202 is a smartphone. First mobile device202 may be equipped with camera assembly 206. In some embodiments,camera assembly 206 is made up of optics and a photoelectric sensorcapable of recording still images and video. First mobile device 202 maybe equipped with multiple camera assemblies 206 with various types ofsensors, including multi-color and monochrome sensors. Camera assembly206 may optionally include a flash for using camera assembly 206 inlow-lighting conditions. In one embodiment, first mobile device 202 alsoincludes microphone 210 for recording audio and speaker 212 forproducing sound.

In some embodiments, second mobile device 204 may be used by acontent-consuming user (or second user) to request access to previouslycreated interactive media content. In some embodiments, when access isgranted, the interactive media content is retrieved from applicationserver 214 and database 216. Associated media files may be temporarilypersisted in a data store associated with second mobile device 204. Inconnection with second mobile device 204, the interactive media contentmay be rendered on a display associated with second mobile device 204.Using second mobile device 204, the content-consuming user may interactwith the interactive media content. In some embodiments, there is noclear distinction between content-creating users and content-consumingusers. In these embodiments, first and second users collaborate tocreate and/or edit particular interactive media content.

In one embodiment, using first mobile device 202, the content-creatinguser starts by choosing to initialize a new interactive media package.As used herein, an interactive media package includes a collection ofmedia files, a definition of how the media files relate to each other,and details regarding how a user can interact with the media files. Thecollection of media files may be either captured with the first mobiledevice 202 or otherwise obtained, received, or associated with the firstmobile device 202. In one embodiment, the new interactive media packageis initialized on internal data store 208 of first mobile device 202. Inan alternative embodiment, the new interactive media package isinitialized directly on database 216 by making one or more API calls toapplication server 214 via network 220. The separate media files to becollected may be associated with an interactive media post orinteractive media message associated with the interactive media packageand persisted in internal data store 208 or database 216. In oneembodiment, the posts and/or messages are related to content-creationprofiles associated with one or more users. In some embodiments, usersare related to each other through connections. In some embodiments, theposts and/or messages are associated with a unique interactive mediaidentifier that uniquely identifies a particular interactive mediapackage.

In some embodiments, users can subscribe to one or more of the posts ormessages. When a content-creating user changes or edits an interactivemedia package associated with a post or message and subsequentlypublishes the changed or edited interactive media package, these changesmay then be reflected for the subscribing users in near real-time. Insome embodiments, when interactive media content is published, it isviewable to those users who have connected to the content-creating user.In one embodiment, when the interactive media content is shared, it maybe sent privately to other users on any platform or messaging systemthat the content-creating user chooses to utilize. In some embodiments,sharing interactive media content involves e-mailing a link to theinteractive media package. In some alternative embodiments, interactivemedia content may be stored and later retrieved either by thecontent-creating user or by a different content-consuming user. In suchan embodiment, before providing the content-consuming user access to theinteractive media content, it is first determined whether thecontent-consuming user is authorized to access the interactive mediacontent based on authorization data associated with the interactivemedia content. In some embodiments, authorization information is storedin database 216.

In some embodiments, collected media files associated with one or moreinteractive media packages are stored in one or more static contentdelivery networks (CDN) 218 in the cloud. CDN are geographicallydistributed networks of caching proxy servers in geographicallydistributed data centers. CDN provide highly available and performantcaching of media by distributing the media files and providing the mediafiles geographically closer to end users. By using CDN 218, overallnetwork bandwidth is conserved. Content-consuming users of theinteractive media content are provided with geographically proximate,cached access to the media content, thereby improving the userexperience for the content-consuming user.

Turning now to FIG. 3 , a graphical user interface component is depictedfor selecting a background medium as displayed on a mobile device, theuser interface component being referred to generally by referencenumeral 300. As used herein, a background medium refers to a digitalmedium that forms a backdrop for interactive media content. Inembodiments, the content-creating user generates, creates, builds,compiles, or otherwise assembles a plurality of media files. Inembodiments, one or more of the plurality of media files may be used asthe background medium. The content-creating user may obtain the mediafiles from any content source, including third-party content sources, ormay generate the media files by way of various processes. One process isto capture media in the form of still images or video in connection withcamera assembly 206. In one embodiment, captured video is recorded bycamera assembly 206 with synchronous audio being captured by microphone210. Another process involves selecting a downloaded or pre-createdmedia file from a gallery stored in data store 208. Yet another processinvolves recording audio in connection with microphone 210.Additionally, media in the form of text files may be created by enteringor dictating text, for example. In one embodiment, the plurality ofmedia files is temporarily stored on internal data store 208 of firstmobile device 202. In an alternative embodiment, the plurality of mediafiles is directly uploaded to database 216 by making one or more APIcalls to application server 214 via network 220. In some embodiments, aseach media file is obtained or generated it is posted via an API call toapplication server 214. In these embodiments, after a complete set ofmedia files is obtained or generated, a further API call is initiated toassemble the media files into a collection of media files. In someembodiments, where the media files are large, the media files are brokenup into smaller segments or “chunks” and a connection is established toan API endpoint associated with application server 214. While aconnection to the API endpoint remains open, the chunks are sequentiallyposted to the API endpoint until an entire large-sized media file hasbeen delivered to the API endpoint. In some embodiments, once the mediafile is received at application server 214, it is optionally transmittedto one or more CDN, and a unique media file identifier is returned tothe first mobile device 202 as an API response. In some embodiments, theAPI response is in the form of a JavaScript Object Notation (JSON)response.

In some embodiments, once the content-creating user has accumulated aninitial collection of media files, the content-creating user ispresented with user interface component 300 to select one of the mediafiles to provide a source for a background medium for the interactivemedia package. In alternative embodiments, the content-creating usersimply creates or selects a media file and designates it as thebackground medium. In some embodiments, the background medium is abackground image for the interactive media package. In otherembodiments, the background medium is an animation. In yet otherembodiments, the background medium is a color specified as a number suchas, for example, a web color, which is a six-digit, three-bytehexadecimal triplet. In some embodiments, the background medium may be avideo file. The background medium can be any digital, audio-visual oronly visual medium that can be represented on a display.

User interface component 300 shows preview media icons 302, 304, 306,308, 310, 312, 314, 316, and 318 associated with corresponding mediafiles in the plurality of media files. As used herein, a preview mediaicon is an icon having a preview of an associated media file. Forexample, preview media icon 302 shows a preview of the digital imagefile that preview media icon 302 is associated with. Text item 324invites the content-creating user to “please select a backgroundmedium.” In one embodiment, the content-creating user clicks or taps oneof the preview media icons (here icon 302), which icon may display asbeing selected by having a thicker outer-ring perimeter portion. Nextthe content-creating user clicks “next” button 320. In some embodiments,the content-creating user is then prompted to “assemble now” or“assemble later.” In one embodiment, if “assemble later” is chosen, themedia items are stored locally, for example in data store 208, of firstmobile device 202. In other embodiments, the media items are bothuploaded to application server 214 and stored locally. In yet otherembodiments, the media items are only uploaded to application server214. The content-creating user may then assemble and complete thecontent creation process later. In some embodiments, if thecontent-creating user selects “assemble now”, or resumes a savedprocess, the content-creating user is presented with a user interfacecomponent such as the user interface component that is depicted in FIG.4 .

Turning now to FIG. 4 , which is an exemplary depiction of a graphicaluser interface for placing interactive media icons into locations on abackground medium. As used herein interactive media icons are iconsassociated with media items such as image or video files. The backgroundmedium could be a representation of any digital media file of any type.The example background medium of FIG. 4 is a digital image of mechanicalsystems in a building. In this example, the mechanical systems in thebuilding are being subject to an engineering survey. Media itemsassociated with interactive media icons 404, 406, 408, 410, and 412relate to details of the background medium. In the example of themechanical systems, the media items are images, video, and textassociated with the engineering survey. In one embodiment, when theinteractive media icons are positioned, the locations are determined byfirst querying parameters associated with a user interface of firstmobile device 202 to determine a screen height, screen width, height andwidth of the positioned icon, the number of pixels from the left edge ofthe screen to the middle of the positioned icon, and the number ofpixels from the top of the screen to the middle of the positioned icon.Next, the left (X) and top (Y) values are divided by the screen widthand heights, respectively, to determine percentages of the height andwidth of the background medium corresponding to left and top valuesassociated with the interactive media icon. In this way positioning isobtained relative to proportions of the representation of the backgroundmedium, so that the interactive media icons maintain a consistentposition regardless of the screen width and height values and screenresolution of various mobile devices that may be used to view associatedinteractive media content.

In some embodiments, once released, the interactive media icons enter astate in which the content-creating user may provide propertiesassociated with the interactive media icons, such as color, shape(stars, dots, polygons), an image, or an audio-visual medium, includinga video preview. In some embodiments, the shape of an interactive mediaicon is a number or letter, typically sequential, such that a series ofinteractive media icons are 1, 2, 3, or A, B, C, etc. In otherembodiments, once an interactive media icon such as interactive mediaicon 408 is tapped or otherwise selected, a menu (not shown) ofdifferent shapes or icon types is provided in place of location 418. Inthese embodiments, once the icon type is selected, the type that isselected from the menu remains represented at location 418 until theselected media icon is emplaced.

In some embodiments, emplaced interactive media icons remain in thelocation where the preview interactive media icon was initiallyreleased, which associates the interactive media icon with a feature ofthe background image onto which the interactive media icon is placed.This allows the content-creating user to place media items onto featuresof the background medium so as to allow those features of the backgroundmedium to have additional media content associated with the features. Inthe example of the engineering survey, these details may be videosdocumenting functioning of various components of the associatedmechanical systems. The details may also be training videos or audio orvideo explanations, for example, videos showing a technician how to testor repair certain components of the mechanical systems.

The media of the positioned interactive media icons may be, but are notlimited to, text, video, audio, pictures, documents, live-streamingvideos, web pages, information widget, product info or checkout pages,native applications, websites, animations, combinations of audio andanimations, targets for video/text/audio calls, other interactive mediaitems, i.e., interactive media content within interactive media content,or multiple or combinations of any of the media types.

Interactive media icons may vary in terms of appearance. In someembodiments, shape varies, e.g., a filled circle, a ring, a triangle,filled or outline, a diamond, a heart, or a star. Some interactive mediaicons may have a combination of one or more different shapes, while somewill all have the same shape. In some embodiments, the shape may beselected in a way to give a visual clue as to the type or nature of themedia represented by the location. Interactive media icons may also varyin color. In some embodiments, interactive media packages may havedifferent colors for the icons while in other embodiments, theinteractive media icons all share a common color scheme. The color mayvary based on the underlying media type represented, the recency of theplacement of an interactive media icon and/or associated underlyingmedia, a style combination (skin) chosen by the content-creating user,or for other reasons where the category or type of interactive mediaicon needs to be depicted visually.

In one embodiment, once placed, an interactive media icon can besubsequently repositioned through further drag and release gestures, ifthe content-creating user intends to adjust or correct positioning ofthe interactive media icon. In some embodiments, when tapped, a modaluser interface component is displayed showing the medium associated withthe particular interactive media icon. In some embodiments, if themedium associated with the interactive media icon is video, the previewassociated with the interactive media icon may be a portion of theassociated video. In these embodiments, the segment of the video to bedisplayed in the preview will loop from a starting time point in thevideo to an ending point. In some embodiments, the starting point andending point may be specified as described above, similarly to the wayin which the shape and color of the interactive media icon may beselected and/or changed.

In one embodiment, the background medium is video. In such anembodiment, the content-creating user may drag or slide through thedifferent frames of the video to a particular selected point in timebefore dragging and releasing the interactive media icons onto a frozenframe of the video. When consumed, the associated interactive mediaicons may be hidden until the particular selected time point in thevideo is reached during playback of the video that was chosen to be thebackground medium.

In some embodiments, content-creating users may add second nested orembedded interactive media packages to a first interactive media packagewhen the content-creating user initializes and creates the firstinteractive media package. The nested interactive media packages can beeither created in advance (pre-created) or newly created while creatingthe first interactive media package. In some embodiments, when theinteractive media package has been pre-created, the nested interactivemedia package is added to an interactive media package in the same wayan image or video would be added by placing an interactive media icononto a background medium, where the interactive media icon is associatedwith a pre-created nested interactive media package. If the nestedinteractive media package has not been pre-created, when thecontent-creating user is adding interactive media icons to a particularbackground medium, the creating user can provide a gesture to create andplace a new interactive media icon on the background medium. In oneembodiment, the associated gesture is a long press at location 418 inFIG. 4 , which invokes a modal user interface component with an optionto create a new interactive media package. Thereafter, the nested mediapackage is created using a process similar to the creation of anon-nested interactive media package, as described herein.

In some embodiments, metadata associated with interactive media packagesmay be stored in relational database 216 of FIG. 2 . The metadata mayinclude a number of properties associated with the interactive mediapackage and the included interactive media icons. The interactive mediametadata may include information regarding positioning of theinteractive media icons. The interactive media metadata mayalternatively or additionally include information regarding how theinteractive media icons relate to one another and to the backgroundmedium. Accordingly, in some embodiments, an interactive media packagecontains data associated with interactive media content, data associatedwith the background medium, data regarding the content-creating user,data regarding positioning of the interactive media icons, time/datetimestamps relating to the creation or accumulation of all associatedmedia, and relationships between the content-creating user andrecipients or subscribers to the interactive media package. Someembodiments have the benefit of storing all of these items in a singlelogical unit, within an interactive media package.

Once all of the interactive media icons have been positioned, thecontent-creating user may indicate that the creation process iscomplete. In some embodiments the completed interactive media packagemay be temporarily stored on data store 208 of first mobile device 202.Subsequently, the completed interactive media package may be uploaded toapplication server 214 and at least temporarily persisted in connectionwith database 216, with the individual media items being distributed outover CDN 218.

As noted in connection with FIG. 2 above, in some embodiments, users areboth content-creating users as well as content-consuming users. In suchembodiments, both the first and second users are presented with userinterface component 400 that updates in near real-time when acounterpart user makes a change to the interactive media by, forexample, placing interactive media icon 404 somewhere on the backgroundmedium, and releasing it, for example, at release point 404′. In oneembodiment, the first user is assigned a color such as blue, and whenthe first user has tapped an interactive media icon or is in the processof dragging an interactive media icon, the interactive media icon willhave a blue ring around its perimeter or otherwise be designated withthe color blue. When the first user places and releases the interactivemedia icon, the blue designation may be removed from the interactivemedia icon. The second user's actions may have another designated color,such as red, which may be associated with an interactive media icon forthe period of time that the interactive media icon is in use by thesecond user. In this way, simultaneous modification of any interactivemedia icon by both the first and second users may be prevented. If oneof the users attempts to use one of the interactive media icons whilethe other user is using that particular interactive media icon, the userthat is attempting to interact with the interactive media icon that isalready in use will not be able to select the interactive media iconthat is already in use until the other user has released the interactivemedia icon. The content-creating user then proceeds to drag and releaseany subsequent icons in the group of interactive media icons 406, 408,and 412. When the content-creating user is done, the content-creatinguser may click or tap done button 414. If the content-creating userintends to cancel the placement operation the content-creating userclicks or taps cancel button 416.

In some embodiments, geolocation is employed by use of a device-locatingcapability of a mobile device. In these embodiments, thecontent-creating user defines geofencing coordinates at the time ofplacing icons and providing properties of a particular interactive mediaicon. For instance, certain interactive media icons may only appeardepending on the particular content-consuming user's latitude andlongitude. In some embodiments, a particular interactive media packagemay selectively function, or be customized, depending on a real-timegeolocation (or RFID tag proximity) of the content-consuming user. Insome embodiments, geolocation may operate selectively based on thecontent-consuming user's location at, for example, a live event such asa concert or a sporting event, particular vendor booths in a conventioncenter, or exhibits in a museum. In various embodiments, proximityBluetooth beacons may be employed to provide location information, ascould be WiFi or mobile data proximity or triangulation as well as anyother user locating technology.

In some embodiments, interactive media packages can be exported andimported to external, third-party, media delivery platforms or systems,which implement a protocol compatible with an interactive media contentdelivery protocol as disclosed in connection with the present invention.Blockchain technology may be applied to the interactive media deliveryprotocol of the present invention, in order to provide a decentralizedledger of created interactive media packages. In this way,content-creating users are able to control access and prove originalauthorship of copyrighted interactive media content.

In various embodiments, artificial intelligence (AI) may be employed ininteractive media content delivery as disclosed in connection with thepresent invention. In one embodiment, AI may operate in connection withimage recognition techniques to automatically position interactive mediaicons over items recognized by the AI of the present invention. In oneembodiment, tutorial videos or product purchase widgets may beautomatically placed over items in a background medium that a user hasfor sale. In this embodiment, a content-creating user may provide aproduct catalog or data sheet as a background medium, and theinteractive media icon placement AI may recognize objects within thebackground medium and based on a name (or other metadata) of a mediafile associated with interactive media icons to be placed, and provide atentative automatic placement of the interactive media icon(s).

In various embodiments, voice commands are employed to aid in placingthe interactive media icons of the present invention. In one embodiment,a content-creating user may utter voice commands to place interactivemedia icons into locations on the background medium. This may bealternatively to or in addition to other mouse-based, otherpointer-based, or touch-based gestures to drag and release theinteractive media icons. For instance, a content-creating user couldspeak a command of: “put the first icon in the very middle”, or “addimage of jogger to upper-left”. Or even “move third icon up,” “playmedia item number four”, or “replace video icon three with link towww.somesite.com.”

In some embodiments, interactive media packages implement interactivegames such that interactive media icons are laid out to enablecontent-consuming users to play games with the interactive mediacontent. Such approaches include tapping interactive media icons in aspecified order, implementing a puzzle or by tapping interactive mediaicons in a way to match related or similar underlying media, in a memorygame type of configuration. Additional use cases include: E-commerce,telemedicine, on-site engineering surveys, realtor listings, influencermarketing, digital storytelling, virtual kiosks, virtual concerts, andvirtual museum tours.

Turning now to FIG. 5A, which depicts an exemplary rendering of agraphical user interface for interacting with interactive media contenton a mobile device, the user interface component being referred togenerally by reference numeral 500. User interface component 500 is arendering of an interactive media package created by a content-creatinguser and shared to a content-consuming user. The exemplary backgroundmedium is an architectural rendering of a bathroom. Within the renderingof the bathroom are three plumbing fixtures: sink 502, toilet 506 andbathtub 510. Each of the plumbing fixtures has an associated interactivemedia icon. Sink 502 has circular interactive media icon 504. Toilet 506has associated star-shaped interactive media icon 508, and bathtub 510has octagon-shaped interactive media icon 512. When thecontent-consuming user taps any of the interactive media icons 504, 508,or 512, the user may be taken to a new user interface componentassociated with a media item associated with the particular interactivemedia icon, such as FIG. 5B, which is associated with sink 502.

In alternative embodiments, an interactive media icon has a numberattached to the interactive media icon such that when thecontent-consuming user zooms, e.g., with a multi-touch, pinch-to-zoomgesture, the interactive media icon is replaced with several underlyinginteractive media icons. The number of underlying interactive mediaicons may be based on the count displayed on the original interactivemedia icon. In these embodiments, this feature may be used in connectionwith an architect's floorplan such as the floorplan of FIG. 5A, whereinteractive media icon 504 bears the number 2, placed in the middle ofthe sink fully zoomed-out. When the content-consuming user zooms in onthe sink, the numbered interactive media icon may be replaced by twocorresponding interactive media icons as in FIG. 5B. In someembodiments, the number associated with the interactive media icon is inthe center of the interactive media icon as shown in connection withinteractive media icon 504. In other embodiments, the number is renderedoff-center such as in the upper-right of the interactive media icon,similar to a user-interface “badge.” As noted, in some embodiments, thenumber corresponds to an associated number of sub-icons. In otherembodiments, the number corresponds to a sequence in which theinteractive media icon should be interacted with. In yet otherembodiments, the number corresponds to a number of media objectsassociated with the particular interactive media icon, such as eightvideo files, if the number on the interactive media icon is “8.”

Turning now to FIG. 5B, which depicts an exemplary rendering of agraphical user interface for interacting with interactive media contenton a mobile device, the user interface component being referred togenerally by reference numeral 550. User interface component 550 is arendering of expanded interactive media content expanded by zooming ortapping interactive media icon 504 from FIG. 5A. Consistent withinteractive media icon 504 bearing a count designation of 2, wheninteractive media icon 504 is zoomed or tapped, user interface component550 is rendered with two expanded interactive media icons. Theseinteractive media icons are interactive media icon 556 associated withfaucet 554 and interactive media icon 558 associated with sink 552.

In some other alternative embodiments, interactive media icons may havea displayed number associated therewith for different purposes. Forinstance, the number may represent the step order in which the viewer issupposed to tap through each of the interactive media icons. The numbermay also represent the cost in a virtual currency needed to “unlock” thecontent/media represented by that location. Tapping on interactive mediaicon 556, which bears a video content-type designation, takes the userto a video screen in FIG. 5C.

Turning now to FIG. 5C, which depicts an exemplary rendering of agraphical user interface for interacting with interactive media contenton a mobile device, the user interface component being referred togenerally by reference numeral 580. After tapping on interactive mediaicon 556 in FIG. 5B, the content-consuming user is taken to userinterface component 580 which renders video 586. When thecontent-consuming user taps play button 588 associated with video 586,the content-consuming user is presented with a video providinginformation about faucet 554 of FIG. 5B, how faucet 554 operates, isconnected to plumbing fixtures, and other specifications regardingfaucet 554.

Turning now to FIG. 6 , which is a flow diagram depicting a method forcreating interactive media content and referred to generally byreference numeral 600. Initially, at step 602 execution begins. At step604, an application running on a device (such as first mobile device202) receives a plurality of media files. As described above inconnection with FIG. 2 , these media files may be acquired in variousways. A first way is to capture media in the form of still images orvideo using the integrated peripherals associated with first mobiledevice 202. In one embodiment, captured video is recorded with a camerain first mobile device 202, with synchronous audio being captured insync with the video. A second way involves selecting downloaded orpre-created media files from a gallery stored in an internal data storeof first mobile device 202. A third process involves recording audio inconnection with first mobile device 202. Additionally, media in the formof text files may be created by entering or dictating text, for example.In one embodiment, the plurality of media files is temporarily stored onthe internal data store 208 of first mobile device 202.

In one embodiment, a modal user interface component is presented to thecontent-creating user with options of “assemble now” or “assemblelater.” In one embodiment, if “assemble later” is chosen, the media isstored locally, for example in data store 208 of first mobile device202. In other embodiments, the media items are both uploaded toapplication server 214 and stored locally. In yet other embodiments, themedia items are only uploaded to application server 214. At test 606,the content-creation program code associated with the applicationdetermines whether the content-creating user intends to assemble theinteractive media package now. If yes, execution proceeds to step 612.

Alternatively, the content-creating user may choose to complete thecontent creation process later. In some embodiments, if thecontent-creating user selects “assemble now”, or resumes a saved process(test 610), the content-creating user is presented with a user interfacecomponent such as user interface component 300. In connection with userinterface component 300, the content-creating user selects a backgroundmedium. In one embodiment, the content-creating user is presented with anumber of choices for selecting a background medium. Thecontent-creating user may click or tap one of the preview media icons toselect one of the icons, which icon may display as being selected byhaving a thicker outer ring or perimeter portion. Next thecontent-creating user indicates that the background medium has beenselected. At step 612 the application receives the selection of thebackground medium from the content-creating user.

Next, at step 614, the application displays the background medium forthe purpose of associating media items with the background medium in theform of interactive media icons. In some embodiments, the backgroundmedium is a background image for the interactive media package. In otherembodiments, the background medium is an animation. In yet otherembodiments, the background medium is a color specified as a number suchas, for example, a web color, which is a six-digit, three-bytehexadecimal triplet. The background medium can be any digital,audio-visual medium that can be represented on a display. In someembodiments, the content-creating user selects a video file instead of astill image for the background medium. The content-creating user is thenable to drag or slide through the different frames of the video, to aparticular point in time before dragging and releasing the interactivemedia icons on to a frozen frame of the video. When viewed, theassociated interactive media cons may be hidden until the particulartime point in the video is reached during playback.

After a media file associated with the background medium is selected,the content-creating user is presented with a user interface componentfor positioning interactive media icons over the background medium. Inone embodiment, the user is presented with a number of preview mediaicons that when placed will become interactive media icons associatedwith the collected but yet-to-be placed media files. Thecontent-creating user then may execute a drag and release gesture on anyof the icons, in any order, thereby dragging the icons into locations onthe displayed representation of the background medium, which gesturesthe application receives at step 616.

Next, at test 618, the application determines whether thecontent-creating user has completed the process of dragging interactivemedia icons onto the background image. In one embodiment, thecontent-creating user provides an indication that the content-creatinguser is finished associating interactive media icons with the backgroundmedium. In one embodiment, the content-creating user provides thisindication by tapping a button with the label “done” and executioncontinues to step 620. If the content-creating user has not completeddragging interactive media icons onto the background medium, the processcontinues back to step 616 and the application receives further dragginggestures and associated icon placement(s).

Next, at step 620, the application saves the interactive media contentthat the content-creating user has created. In some embodiments thecompleted interactive media package may be temporarily stored on datastore 208 of first mobile device 202. Subsequently, the completedinteractive media package may be assigned a unique interactive mediaidentifier and be uploaded to application server 214 and at leasttemporarily persisted in connection with database 216, with theindividual media items being distributed out over CDN 218. In someembodiments, a content-consuming user requests access to a savedinteractive media package based on a unique media identifier. Once thecontent-consuming user is provided access to the interactive mediapackage, the content-consuming user may interact with the interactivemedia package as described in connection with FIG. 5A-5C above.

Although embodiments of the invention have been described with referenceto the embodiments illustrated in the attached drawing figures, it isnoted that equivalents may be employed and substitutions made hereinwithout departing from the scope of the invention as recited in theclaims.

Having thus described various embodiments of the invention, what isclaimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent includesthe following:

1. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media comprisingcomputer-executable instructions that, when executed by at least oneprocessor, perform a method for creating and sharing interactive media,the method comprising: receiving, from a first user, one or more mediafiles including a background medium, the background medium being a videofile; receiving, from the first user, icon placement informationregarding one or more interactive media icons associated with arepresentation of the background medium, wherein the icon placementinformation includes: one or more frame placements of the one or moreinteractive media icons; and one or more predetermined times for causingdisplay of the one or more interactive media icons; transmitting, to anapplication server, an interactive media package comprising: the one ormore media files; and the icon placement information; and receiving,from the application server, an interactive media identifiercorresponding to the interactive media package.
 2. The one or morenon-transitory computer-readable media of claim 1, the method furthercomprising: receiving, from a first user device associated with thefirst user, the background medium, the background medium captured viathe first user device.
 3. The one or more non-transitorycomputer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the interactive mediapackage further comprises access permissions of a second user.
 4. Theone or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 1, themethod further comprising: causing display of, on a second userinterface associated with a second user, the interactive media package,the second user being connected to the first user.
 5. The one or morenon-transitory computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the one ormore interactive media icons include an additional video file.
 6. Theone or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 1, whereinthe method further comprises: causing display of the one or moreinteractive media icons when the one or more predetermined times arereached during a playback.
 7. The one or more non-transitorycomputer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the interactive mediapackage contains an additional interactive media package.
 8. A methodfor creating and sharing interactive media, the method comprising:receiving, from a first user, one or more media files including abackground medium, the background medium being a video file; receiving,from the first user, icon placement information regarding one or moreinteractive media icons associated with a representation of thebackground medium, wherein the icon placement information includes: oneor more frame placements of the one or more interactive media icons; andone or more predetermined times for causing display of the one or moreinteractive media icons; transmitting, to an application server, aninteractive media package comprising: the one or more media files; andthe icon placement information; receiving, from the application server,an interactive media identifier corresponding to the interactive mediapackage; receiving, from a second user, a request to access theinteractive media package corresponding to the interactive mediaidentifier; and causing display of, on a second user interfaceassociated with the second user, the one or more interactive media iconsat the one or more predetermined times in the icon placementinformation.
 9. The method of claim 8 further comprising: causingdisplay of a modification to the interactive media package in real-time.10. The method of claim 8 further comprising: receiving, from the firstuser, a gesture having a release point, the release point determining aframe placement of an interactive media icon from the one or moreinteractive media icons.
 11. The method of claim 8, wherein the one ormore interactive media icons are configured to be hidden until the oneor more predetermined times are reached during playback.
 12. The methodof claim 8, wherein the interactive media package comprises one or moreadditional nested interactive media packages.
 13. The method of claim 8further comprising: receiving, from the second user, one or moremodifications to the interactive media package.
 14. The method of claim13, wherein the one or more modifications to the interactive mediapackage include a post from the second user.
 15. A system for creatingand sharing interactive media, the system comprising: a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium programmed to: receive, from a first user, oneor more media files including a background medium, the background mediumbeing a video file; receive, from the first user, icon placementinformation regarding one or more interactive media icons associatedwith a representation of the background medium, wherein the iconplacement information includes: one or more frame placements of the oneor more interactive media icons; and one or more predetermined times forcausing display of the one or more interactive media icons; transmit, toan application server, an interactive media package comprising: the oneor more media files; and the icon placement information; receive, fromthe application server, an interactive media identifier corresponding tothe interactive media package; receive, from a second user, a request toaccess the interactive media package corresponding to the interactivemedia identifier; and receive, from the second user, one or moremodifications to the interactive media package.
 16. The system of claim15, the non-transitory computer-readable medium further programmed to:cause display of, on a second user interface associated with the seconduser, the one or more interactive media icons at the one or morepredetermined times in the icon placement information.
 17. The system ofclaim 15, the non-transitory computer-readable medium further programmedto: publish, to one or more subscribing users, the interactive mediapackage, the one or more subscribing users being subscribed to one ormore posts associated with the interactive media package.
 18. The systemof claim 15, the non-transitory computer-readable medium furtherprogrammed to: authorize, based on authorization data included in theinteractive media package, the second user to access the interactivemedia package.
 19. The system of claim 15, wherein the icon placementinformation further comprises: one or more icon properties determiningat least one of a shape, a color, or a media-type indicator.
 20. Thesystem of claim 15, the non-transitory computer-readable medium furtherprogrammed to: update the interactive media package with the one or moremodifications.